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Thread: Capital Murder Charge Dropped for Casey Cole White in 2015 AL Slaying of Connie Ridgeway

  1. #21
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Vicky White sent Casey White’s kids gifts, visited his grandchild, mother says: ‘He loved her’

    By Carol Robinson
    AL.com

    Casey White is heartbroken by the death of Vicky White, an Alabama jail supervisor who broke the capital murder suspect out of jail two weeks ago and then shot herself in the head as police in Indiana closed in on them.

    Connie Moore, 62, said she’s talked to her 38-year-old son twice since he was recaptured Monday and sent back to William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, where he is serving 75 years for a 2015 crime spree.

    “He was crying and hurt and can’t figure out why he can’t have a relationship with anybody,’’ Moore said in an interview with AL.com. “He loved her and said they had a good relationship.”

    Casey White was convicted in 2019 on a total of nine charges, including trying to kill his ex-girlfriend and kidnapping her two roommates.

    Other charges included first degree robbery, first degree burglary, third degree burglary, breaking and entering a vehicle, animal cruelty for shooting a dog and attempting to elude.

    In 2020, Casey White was indicted for capital murder in the Oct. 23, 2015, stabbing death of 59-year-old Connie Jane Ridgeway, who was found slain in the living room of her apartment across the street from Lauderdale County High School’s football field.

    He is charged with capital murder during a first-degree burglary, and murder for pecuniary gain - meaning that he was paid to commit the slaying.

    The arrest came, said Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly, after an investigator with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office received a letter in June 2020 from Casey White.

    During an interview at the Jefferson County prison, Casey White confessed to the crime, and his statements match certain evidence at the scene that was not released, Connolly said.

    Connolly later said he did not know why White decided to come forward and talk with investigators.

    Court records indicate prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Casey White, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

    Since his confession, records show, Casey White has gone back and forth between Donaldson and the Lauderdale County, and it appears that is when the relationship between him and Vicky White developed.

    Moore said the couple met in 2020 when Casey White was sent back to the Lauderdale County Jail after he confessed to the 2015 killing of 59-year-old Connie Ridgeway.

    When he returned to state prison, Vicky White started writing to him.

    “It just started out as pen pals and as time went on, he talked about how much he loved her and what a good person she was,’’ Moore said.

    “With the situation he was in, I was glad,’’ she said. “Everybody needs a pen pal and someone to talk to. I thought it was good.”

    Moore said she knew about the relationship but did not know Vicky White’s real name or that she was jailer.

    “He always called her his baby or his wife,’’ she said.

    “I didn’t really say anything because I thought well, maybe they’ve just got one of these things going between them and I wasn’t trying to discourage him, because I never dreamed of anything becoming of it’' she said.

    Moore said she met Vicky White one time.

    “She just wanted to visit Casey’s grandbaby,’’ she said. “It sort of seemed odd.”

    Casey White has two children – a son and a daughter – and a 2-year-old grandchild.

    “Casey called and said she was coming by, and it just happened that fast and she was at the door,’’ Moore said. “She seemed real nice and it was nothing out of the ordinary. She didn’t stay very long. I didn’t know who she was.”

    Over the past couple years, Vicky White sent Christmas gifts and birthday gifts to Casey White’s grandchild and his 12-year-old son.

    He had talked about Vicky White getting him out jail, but legally.

    “He talked about she was going to get a lawyer and do all this and get him out of all that trouble and they were going to be together,’’ she said.

    “I said, ‘Well Casey, why in the world would she want to spend that kind of money and it still might not work. I don’t think that’s a good idea unless she’s just got more money than she knows what to do with.’’'

    Moore said she didn’t realize the extent of the couples’ involvement until Vicky White broke Casey White out of jail.

    She learned about the escape on the news and said that’s also when she learned the identity of his “wife.”

    “It was a shock,’’ she said. “I don’t remember nothing for two or three days.”

    “But I knew that she wasn’t in no harm,’’ Moore said. “Casey’s not the monster that they’re making him out to be.”

    She said her son was diagnosed at age 18 as bipolar and schizophrenic.

    “He couldn’t make it on his own. He’s never been on his own,’’ Moore said. “I’ve always took care of him or my parents and sister when they were living.”

    “He wasn’t going to do nothing to her, I knew that,’’ she said. “I told the U.S. Marshals that.”

    “Then I got to worrying about her killing him,’’ she said.

    She said she did not hear from the couple while they were on the run.

    Moore said she believes Vicky White was the mastermind behind the escape.

    “Casey wasn’t a planner,’’ she said.

    Moore found out about the capture and suicide the same way she found out about the escape – from the news.

    “They showed everything. If there’d been a shootout, they would have showed both of them getting killed,’’ she said. “It’s ridiculous what all they showed.”

    Moore said she granted the interview “because it was important for somebody to speak out for Casey.”

    “Beware of mental illness,’’ she said. “He didn’t like to stay on his medicine and his next choice was to self-medicate.”

    Moore said she doesn’t believe he was involved in the 2008 death of ex-girlfriend Christy Lynn Shelton McKee, which was ruled a suicide, and she said she doesn’t believe he killed Connie Ridgeway.

    She said she believes he confessed to that to get out of Donaldson prison, where she said he’s been stabbed three different times during his incarceration.

    “I hope they don’t find him guilty,’’ she said. “There’s always two sides to every story and it goes back to mental illness.”

    Moore said she hasn’t spoken with her son about any details of their time on the run or Vicky White’s suicide.

    A graveside service for Vicky White is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Center Hill Cemetery in Lexington.

    Her obituary said she leaves behind her mother, Pat Davis, as well as two brothers, a nephew and extended family.

    Moore said she will not be in attendance.

    “My heart goes out to her family,’’ she said. “They just don’t know how bad it hurts me that it hurts them.”

    https://www.al.com/news/2022/05/vick...loved-her.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #22
    Senior Member CnCP Addict maybeacomedian's Avatar
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    He's a grandfather at 38 years old?! Yikes...

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    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by maybeacomedian View Post
    He's a grandfather at 38 years old?! Yikes...
    So was my mother. Gave birth to my sister at 18 and my sister had her first child at 20
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by maybeacomedian View Post
    He's a grandfather at 38 years old?! Yikes...
    I was a grandfather at 34. My daughter was young (15) when she had my granddaughter. Now she's 25 married with 3 kids. (10, 3, 8 months). And her husband is the father of all 3 kids.

  5. #25
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    On a side note, Virgil Presnell also has three grandchildren. Think about that: A woman was desperate enough to mate with Virgil Presnell
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  6. #26
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    Family of Alabama murder victim pushing for new law after Casey White's escape

    By WVTM Digital News

    LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. — The sons of an Alabama murder victim are pushing for change after the man who allegedly killed their mother escaped from the Lauderdale County jail following a transfer from a state prison. Learn more in the video above.

    Casey White is charged with capital murder in the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway. White escaped from jail with the help of a corrections officer on April 29. White was captured nearly two weeks later in Indiana. The corrections officer, Vicky White, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the pair led Indiana authorities on a chase.

    Casey White was quickly extradited to Alabama and arraigned on new charges in Lauderdale County before being taken to a state prison facility in Jefferson County.

    Ridgeway's sons are now hoping to get new legislation called "Connie's Law" that would inform victims' families when suspects make requests to be transferred.

    "Our main concern is for families to not be re-victimized but rather empowered by knowing the person or persons that are the offenders are located," said Mark White, a longtime friend of Ridgeway's sons, Cameron and Austin.

    https://www.wvtm13.com/article/casey...amily/40144331
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #27
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    Will Casey White face death penalty in capital murder case?

    By Paul Gattis

    The new team of defense attorneys representing capital murder suspect Casey White, who escaped from the Lauderdale County jail in April with assistance from a sheriff’s deputy, filed a flurry of motions in court Thursday.

    One of those motions asked if the state intends to seek the death penalty.

    The motion said an answer is needed to adequately prepare for White’s defense.

    “I will be answering the motion in official responses filed in court,” Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly told AL.com Thursday when asked if the state would pursue the death penalty in the event of a conviction.

    “Other than that, I won’t be commenting on that motion or any others that were filed today.”

    White is scheduled to go to trial on the capital murder charge June 13, though a delay is expected after the new team of Huntsville-based lawyers, led by Mark McDaniel, filed a motion late Thursday afternoon asking for a delay. The motion said that Connolly had no objection to a continuance being granted.

    McDaniel filed notice with the court that he was now representing White on May 25.

    The previous attorneys representing White had their motions to withdraw from the case granted by Circuit Judge Benjamin Graves on May 31.

    White came into national prominence when he escaped from jail April 29 with aid from assistant director of corrections Vicki White.

    Casey White and Vicky White, who were not related, were on the run together for 11 days before their capture in Evansville, Ind., on May 9. Vicky White shot herself as law enforcement closed in on them and died at an Evansville hospital.

    Casey White was taken into custody and brought back to Florence for an arraignment. He was then housed at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County.

    Casey White was in jail awaiting trial for the 2015 slaying of Connie Ridgeway in Rogersville. White, already serving a 75-year prison sentence for a multi-state crime spree in 2015, confessed to the murder of Ridgeway, Connolly said in 2020.

    Casey White is scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 20 on the escape charge.

    Among the motions filed Thursday included a request for the state to produce physical evidence to the defense for inspection and testing by defense experts and a request to suppress all written and oral statements given by Casey White to law enforcement.

    https://www.al.com/news/2022/06/will...outputType=amp
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  8. #28
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Jury trial for escaped Alabama inmate Casey White won’t be held for at least six months

    By Kait Newsum
    WHNT News

    LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A judge has approved an order for the capital murder trial of Casey Cole White to be pushed back more than six months from now, court records show.

    White’s attorneys filed the motion to continue Thursday. He had been set to go to trial on June 13.

    The jury trial for White’s capital murder charge is now set to begin on December 12 at 8:30 a.m. at the Lauderdale County Courthouse in Florence.

    The defense is also asking that the case be tried in another county.

    Shortly after the continuance was granted, the defense filed its change of venue motion.

    The motion argues the massive amount of media coverage during the time White had escaped, with stories across several news stations and social media platforms containing, “significant portions of documentary and hearsay evidence relative to the defendant” – information his defense says has, “severely prejudiced the defendant.”

    A status conference is scheduled for November 29 at 1:30 p.m. A deadline for motions filed or pending in the case was set for December 6 at 9 a.m., with a plea cutoff deadline set for December 8 at 1:30 p.m.

    Circuit Judge Benjamin R. Graves issued the order.

    The change of venue motion argues a fair trial, and an “untainted,” impartial jury would be nearly impossible to find if the case went to trial in Lauderdale County.

    Attorneys for White include Mark McDaniel, Robert Tuten, Nickolas R. Heatherly, Marcus Helstowski and Nick Lough.

    On Thursday, White’s defense filed several motions including one seeking to have a judge throw out his alleged confession to the 2015 murder of Connie Ridgeway – and another asking if the state plans to seek the death penalty in the case.

    https://www.cbs42.com/alabama-news/j...st-six-months/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #29
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    Casey White’s lawyers want his capital murder confession thrown out

    By Carol Robinson
    AL.com

    The judge presiding over the capital murder case of Casey Cole White, recaptured last month after escaping from Lauderdale County jail with assistance from a corrections officer, has agreed to hear oral arguments on a defense effort to throw out his confessions in the murder case.

    The hearing will also include the topic of a defense request to move the trial away from Florence due to publicity generated by the nationwide manhunt for White after his escape.

    Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Benjamin Graves set the hearing for Dec. 2 – just 10 days before the trial is set to begin on Dec. 12. The trial was previously scheduled to begin June 13 but was pushed to December after White hired a new team of lawyers last month.

    White, already serving a 75-year prison term following a 2015 multi-state crime spree, has been charged in the 2015 death of Connie Ridgeway of Rogersville in eastern Lauderdale County. Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said when White was charged in 2020, he confessed to the murder.

    The arrest came, Connolly said at the time, after an investigator with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office received a letter in June 2020 from White.

    During an interview at the prison, White confessed to the crime, and his statements matched certain evidence at the scene that was not released to the public.

    The arrest came after the case was presented to a grand jury. White indicated he was paid to kill Ridgeway.

    Connolly has dismissed suggestions that Casey White made a false confession, using information supplied by Vicky White, in order to be sent back to Lauderdale County from Donaldson prison.

    White’s new lawyers, led by Huntsville attorney Mark McDaniel, is seeking to suppress that confession.

    White’s attorneys have also filed a motion asking for the Connolly’s office to state if they intend to pursue the death penalty. The judge granted that motion. Connolly has said he will respond to the issue of the death penalty in court filings.

    On the escape charge, White has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 24 at which Lauderdale County District Judge Carole Medley will determine if the case should be presented to a grand jury for indictment.

    https://www.al.com/news/2022/06/case...hrown-out.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #30
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Judge denies Casey White’s request for preliminary hearing on escape charge

    By Paul Gattis
    AL.com

    A Lauderdale County judge on Friday denied a request for a preliminary hearing in the escape case of Casey White, sticking to her original order to send the case directly to the grand jury.

    The district attorney, Chris Connolly, cited “overwhelming evidence” to support the escape charge and moved to drop the case against White with plans later this month to present it to the grand jury and obtain an indictment, according to the motion filed Thursday.

    District Judge Carole Medley granted the prosecutor’s motion 24 minutes after it was filed, according to court records.

    White remains in state prison, serving a 75-year sentence for convictions dating to a 2015 crime spree. He is also being held on a capital murder charge and is scheduled to go to trial in December.

    Defense attorneys for White, led by Huntsville’s Mark McDaniel, objected to the canceling of the preliminary hearing – arguing that it would hinder their client’s efforts to in “effectively building his defense” on both the capital murder charge and the escape charge.

    The preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 24.

    White was the subject of a nationwide manhunt last month after escaping from the Lauderdale County jail with assistance from Vicky White, an assistant corrections director at the jail.

    The two, who were not related, were on the run for 11 days before Casey White was captured in Evansville, Indiana. Vicky White took her own life with a gunshot to the head as police closed in.

    https://www.al.com/news/2022/06/judg...pe-charge.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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